Brewing beer generally involves two main stages: (1) preparing the wort (i.e., the unfermented precursor to beer that includes a liquid mixture of fermentable sugars obtained from grains), and (2) fermenting the wort to produce the beer. There are two main techniques used for preparing the wort: (1) extract-based brewing, and (2) all-grain brewing. In extract-based brewing, malt extract (a concentrated form of the fermentable sugars obtained from malted grains) is added directly to a brew kettle and boiled. Other ingredients like hops are then added directly to the brew kettle during the boil to complete the wort. In all-grain brewing, malted grains are first “mashed” to extract the sugars needed for fermentation, the extracted sugars (i.e., the wort) are then separated from the mashed grains in a process called “lautering”, and finally, the separated wort is boiled while other ingredients like hops are added to the wort. Due to its relative ease, many novice home brewers use extract-brewing systems, while more advanced home brewers and commercial-scale breweries use all-grain brewing systems.
As used herein, “mashing” is the process of combining a mix of milled, malted grain and water and heating the mixture such that enzymes in the malted grain break down starch in the grain into sugars (typically maltose) to create the wort. The end product of mashing, which includes the mixture of wort and residual grain, is called a “mash”.
As used herein, “lautering” is the process in which the mash is separated into its component parts of the wort and the residual grain. Lautering typically involves sparging (i.e., spraying or sprinkling) water through the mash to extract the wort out of the mash.
The mashing, lautering, and boiling stages of all-grain brewing are usually completed in separate containers or tuns (e.g., many commercial breweries use a mash tun for mashing, a lautering tun for lautering, and a brew kettle for boiling the wort), and the water used during mashing and lautering is often heated in yet another separate container. In conventional all-grain brewing systems, the mash tun requires some type of mixing device (e.g., a mash rake) that stirs the mash in order to prevent clumping of the mash and keep a uniform mash temperature. Small-scale micro-breweries, rather than using a mash tun for mashing and a separate lautering tun for lautering, often complete the mashing and lautering processes in a single mash/lauter tun. Systems that use a mash/lauter tun combination still generally require a separate container for heating water used during mashing and lautering and a separate brew kettle for boiling the wort.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,157 to Conrad Lenz (hereinafter, “Lenz”), titled “AUTOMATIC BREWING PLANT” issued Feb. 16, 1971, and is incorporated herein by reference. Lenz describes a brewing plant equipped with controls which automatically feed a set amount of mash to vessels, keep the mash in the vessels at closely controlled temperatures for predetermined times, transfer the mash between the vessels, and ultimately discharge it to a lautertub. The manifold control functions are distributed between a master control unit and auxiliary control mechanisms, each of which controls more than one aspect of the brewing process and is itself controlled by the master unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,451 to John F. Hickey (hereinafter, “Hickey”), titled “Brewing apparatus” issued Jan. 22, 1985, and is incorporated herein by reference. Hickey describes a brewing apparatus which comprises a first vessel including heating means, a second vessel including strainer means, a third vessel, and a valve means and pump arrangement by means of which the three vessels can be coupled as necessary for fluid transfer purposes so that the first vessel can be used firstly as a hot liquor tank to produce hot liquor which is transferred to the third vessel which serves firstly as a hot liquor container, from which in use the hot liquor is transferred to the second vessel wherein it is mashed with malt to produce a wort and which serves firstly as a mash tun, from which the wort is transferred to the first vessel therein to be heated with hops whereby the first vessel serves secondly as a brewing kettle from which the resultant brew is transferred to the third vessel which serves secondly as a fermenting vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,388 to Noel R. Wilkinson (hereinafter, “Wilkinson”), titled “BREWING” issued Mar. 31, 1987, and is incorporated herein by reference. Wilkinson describes a brewing unit in which energy is saved by providing a mash tun, hot water tank and kettle in a single unit, by partially enclosing the mash tun with the tank and if necessary pre-heating the water supply to the tank by using the heat from wort coolers provided between the unit and fermentation tank; further improvements are provided by constructing the kettle as a combined kettle and whirlpool in a single chamber having a circular wall and a tangential inlet to the wall, a pump and wort boiler being in circuit with the kettle so that wort is continuously circulated through the boiler and tangential inlet to the kettle while the worts are boiled.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,141,477 to William Broderick (hereinafter, “Broderick”), titled “MASH/LAUTER TUN AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF” issued Mar. 27, 2012, and is incorporated herein by reference. Broderick describes a mash/lauter tun and method of converting grains to wort. The mash/lauter tun comprises a container with a double false bottom filter having two perforated plates disposed parallel with a space therebetween for receiving filtration media. The container further comprises thermometers extending to near the center of the tun and a rotating heat exchanger. In use, mash is loaded into the container and heated via the rotating heat exchanger by passing hot fluid through the rotating heat exchanger. The mash is then sparged by increasing pressure in the rotating heat exchanger above a threshold pressure via closure an outlet valve of the heat exchanger. The wort then passes through the double false bottom filter and is subsequently transferred to a brew kettle for boiling.
PCT Application PCT/AT00/00220 (published as WO 01/12773 A2) to Beer-Lilly Brauereianlagen Handelsges M. B. H (hereinafter, “Beer-Lilly”), titled “WORT COPPER” published Feb. 22, 2001, and is incorporated herein by reference. Beer-Lilly describes a wort copper having floor-heating and is suitable for the preparation of wort and is characterized by the fact that the vessel is provided with a removable vat (17) for receiving mash and subsequently hops having a sieve bottom (21) to allow the wort to flow into the wort copper (1), whereby the vat is provided (17) with a bottom drain pipe (5) and a head feed pipe (11) for stirring the mash.
German Patent DE10150395 B4 to Marie-Luise Frick et al. (hereinafter, “Frick et al.”), titled “BEER BREWING BOILER HAS A PIPE SYSTEM, WITH WORT PLATES, WHERE THE LIQUID AND SOLID BREWING COMPONENTS ARE FORCED THROUGH BY A PUMP, WITHOUT USING STIRRERS OR FILTERS” issued Jul. 5, 2007, and is incorporated herein by reference.
There is a need for an improved system and method for all-grain brewing that combines the multiple stages of wort preparation into a single, all-in-one system.